Plant · P-1111

Wild Foxglove

Penstemon cobaea

Wild Foxglove is a short-lived perennial wildflower in the plantain family, sending up one to three stout stems from a woody rhizome in a clumping, non-running habit. Large, tubular white-to-pink flowers marked with purple nectar guides line the upper half of each stem in spring, drawing bumblebees and hummingbirds and serving as a larval host for the Dotted Checkerspot butterfly. It thrives in dry to medium-moisture, sharply drained, acidic ground below pH 6.0 - sandy, loamy or shallow rocky soil - and declines in wet or poorly drained conditions; it often goes dormant through the heat of summer. Plant 1 to 3 feet apart; it self-sows readily unless spent flowerheads are removed before seed set.